Year 2 2023
My artistic journey delves into the intricacies of my Asian diasphoric experience. As a Filipina born in Auckland, New Zealand, I straddle the confluence of two distinct worlds. The roots of my identity run deep, entwined with the tales of my parents who embarked on separate journeys to New Zealand, their fateful encounter on foreign soil eventually labelling me as a second-generation immigrant.
My creative path draws significant inspiration from Zena Yen Wozniak’s article, “I Thought Not Speaking Chinese Made Me a Bad Asian American. It Doesn’t.” Wozniak eloquently narrates her own experiences and encounters as an Asian American. Immersed in reflection about my own struggles with my native tongue, Bisaya, I’ve come to realize that I am not alone in feeling a sense of displacement from my cultural heritage. This disconnection carries a profound sense of shame. A recent trip to the Philippines served as a transformative experience, rekindling cherished memories from my youth, brimming with happiness. These recollections starkly contrast with the period before my return to the Philippines, marked by disconnection, introspection, and the complexities of my existence in New Zealand.
My paintings are primarily gouache and oil paints. While my recent artistic endeavours predominantly feature oil paints, I blend it with medium W to evoke a watercolour or gouache-like aesthetic. Drawing artistic inspiration from Julien Meagher, who skilfully employs oil paints to mimic the delicate qualities of watercolour. My visual expressions resonate with the dreamlike canvases crafted by Star Gossage, characterized by a faded colour palette. The drip effect, reminiscent of watercolours, encapsulates the temporal dimensions of my past. My transition from gouache to oil paint has allowed me to embrace blending techniques and undertake more extended artistic processes.
Emulating Gossage’s practice, I embark on my artistic journey with sketches and references rooted in the tapestry of my memories and experiences. My artistic process involves record-keeping of thoughts and imaginings in a journal, executed with a black ink illustrator pen. This journal encapsulates the intricate dynamics of language barriers and the simultaneous struggle with identity.
My artworks act as evocative canvases, weaving a narrative of disconnection and reconnection with my ancestral roots. My artistic vision harmoniously melds realism and abstraction. Realism is employed to illuminate specific facets of my compositions, guiding the viewer’s gaze to intricate details, while abstraction is harnessed to convey the emotional landscape enveloping each of my artistic narratives. At the core of my artistic philosophy are the recurring figures that grace my works. These figures symbolize significant individuals I’ve encountered in my life and are a manifestation of cherished memories, often depicted in self-portraits resonating with the experiences of a second-generation immigrant.
Year 3 2024
This project delves into the Asian diasporic experience through the lens of being a second-generation immigrant in New Zealand, examining its impact on my personal identity and nostalgic recollections. As a Filipina born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand, my parents migrated separately and met in New Zealand, making me a second-generation immigrant. My work aims to create a dialogue between the past and present, exploring how cultural heritage and personal history intertwine. By focusing on my own experiences and those of my family, particularly my sisters, I hope to illuminate the broader themes of cultural integration and the complexities of identity in a multicultural society. My sisters and I share experiences that form a support system, a collective memory, and a significant influence on my understanding of identity. With this, my paintings juxtapose the joyous memories of my childhood with the sense of loss associated with adolescence, emphasizing the dissonance between my cultural heritage and my longing for belonging. This internal dissonance evokes a profound sense of confusion and a deep yearning for acceptance.
Inspired by Zena Yen Wozniak’s article,“I Thought Not Speaking Chinese Made Me a Bad Asian American. It Doesn’t,” I sought to express the impact of living in an English-speaking household. Wozniak’s examination of language loss and its effects on Asian American identity deeply resonates with my own experiences, highlighting the complexities of navigating cultural heritage in a predominantly English-speaking environment. This personal connection underscores the significance of identity in shaping individual experiences within the diaspora context. This disconnection brings a sense of shame in my painting practice because it creates a rift between me and my heritage.
Utilizing oil on canvas’ and wooden panels, I convey these themes by incorporating childhood and teenage items alongside symbols and motifs of my Kiwi upbringing. Inspired by James Ensor and Tala Madani, I convey ideas and emotions through a comedic lens, incorporating human figures with animal features in my paintings. This invites viewers to explore deeper themes related to identity and cultural experience. I prefer working on larger-scale canvases, which allows for a more immersive exploration of memory and identity. My artistic process involves looking through childhood photo books, drawing from memory, and creating imaginary narratives, which enables me to capture the essence of my experiences. These figures symbolize significant individuals in my life and are a manifestation of cherished memories, often depicted in self-portraits resonating with the experiences of a second-generation immigrant in New Zealand. Artists like Sasha Gordon, whose work delves into personal memories and identity, deeply resonate with me. Gordon’s exploration of her experiences as an Asian artist living in New York parallels my own examination of identity as a second-generation immigrant in New Zealand. Similarly, Maia Cruz Palileo’s artworks, influenced by familial histories of migration from the Philippines to the United States, provide further insight into the complexities of identity formation within diasporic communities. Inspired by Palileo, I accumulate photo archives from my childhood memories. By merging these images with personal recollections, this process allows me to craft paintings that weave together imaginative narratives rooted in memory.
My recent artistic endeavours predominantly feature oil paints blended with medium W to evoke a watercolour or gouache-like aesthetic, drawing artistic inspiration from Julian Meagher, who skilfully employs oil paints to mimic the delicate qualities of watercolour. This approach conceptually matters to my practice as it gives softness to my painting. My visual expressions resonate with the dreamlike paintings crafted by Star Gossage, characterized by a faded earthy colour palette that evokes a sense of nostalgia. The drip effect, reminiscent of watercolours, encapsulates the temporal dimensions of my past, creating a sense of fluidity and impermanence that reflects the transient nature of memory and identity. Through this technique, I am to convey complexities of belonging and the emotional landscapes shaped by cultural dislocation, ultimately inviting viewers to engage with layers of my diasporic experience.
Crystal Monique Biaño 